Way back in 2013, Valve software announced their intention to bring PC gaming to Linux and the world rejoiced. Finally we could be free of the shackles of Microsoft and paid operating systems! We could ascend into a new era of better performance due to the lower overhead of OpenGL, and enjoy more customization. For those unwilling to take the plunge into Linux, Valve announced Steam OS: a Linux based operating system designed for gaming first. Steam OS would be loaded on Steam Machines designed to take PC gaming to the living room and free console users from the tyranny of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. We would all be moved into a gaming utopia under the light of Gaben. Half Life 3 would finally be confirmed! All gaming Internet arguments would end, and we would all sing Kumbaya around a virtual campfire rendered in the Source 2 engine.

Fast forward to 2015. Steam OS is finally coming out of beta, but no one other than the hardcore audience seems to care or even remember they exist. Steam machines are finally becoming a reality, though not until November of 2015. The current console generation will have been out for three years already and had had time to establish itself. The Steam Machines that have been announced are certainly not console-killers. Even worse, they don't make the transition to PC gaming any easier. There are multiple models of Steam Machines with drastically different pricepoints and performance. The cheaper models will not compete with the current generation of consoles for raw power. The higher end boxes are more expensive than a console, and are more expensive then building an equivalent machine from scratch.

Steam OS has been stuck in perpetual beta for years. While it is too early to pass judgment upon it, it has caused a significant number of games to be ported to Linux. This has been a positive for the industry and the consumer, but consumers are not getting exactly what was advertised. Valve showcased a Linux build of Left 4 Dead 2 playing at a higher framerate than the Windows version claiming that switching to Linux will yield better performance due to decreased driver overhead. Valve also announced a toolkit to make porting games from Windows easier. This turned out to be a double edged sword. While many games are currently available for Linux that probably would not otherwise been ported, many are poor quality ports that are inferior at best and completely incompatible at worst when compared to their Windows counterparts. Furthermore, even with this toolkit a truly disappointing number of ports are just a wine wrapper, which mostly works but is not an improvement over what was done before. For the most part, only Valve games offer an equivalent or superior experience on Linux.

I'll use a few examples of high-profile games I have had major issues with. These range from minor usability complaints, to missing features, to things which completely and totally break the game.

I was excited for Borderlands 2 and Civilization V to come to Linux. I also feared that my productivity would go down the toilet with two of my most addicting games on my Linux install. I didn't have to worry though. The save files are not compatible between Windows and Linux for Borderlands 2 and for Civilization V. The files don't sync properly from the Linux versions, so any progress on my Linux install would not transfer to my Windows install. This is not a deal breaker for Civilization, but completely unacceptable for Borderlands 2. I can't use my character across installs like I could with a second Windows machine. This might be acceptable five years ago, before cloud saves became common, but is currently unacceptable. As for Civilization V, one of its most interesting features is the Steam Workshop integration, which allows for incredibly easy modding. This is simply absent in the Linux version, rather, it is disabled by default and the only way to enable it is through config editing. I understand that the feature is technically in beta, but Workshop support is advertised on the game's store page! Even when you enable the option in the menu it still warns the user with a pop-up. There is no reason for the Steam Workshop to be disabled by default.

Both Borderlands and Civilization suffer from the same problem: they are ported by a third party, Aspyr. Aspyr does an admirable job porting games to Linux, but, they seem to always be incompatible with the windows version managed by the development team. This represents the worst cop-out of Linux gaming, in my opinion. Borderlands and Civilization are often cites as evidence of big-budget AAA games having a presence on Linux, however, both games come with a HUGE asterisk: your data is incompatible if you also have a Windows install of the game. So while they are present, they almost live in their own little world. This will be a huge issue for someone who wanted to play their Borderlands character on a Steam Machine that they started on their existing gaming PC.

Dota 2 is next on the chopping block. It holds the distinguished honor of being the only MOBA game available on Linux, so you'd think this would be listed as a positive. However, as most gamers, I run a muti-monitor setup. On Linux, this means setting up Twinview, which breaks an astounding number of Games. Dota 2 is not broken by Twinview, but it is incapable of locking the cursor to the game Window on Linux. If you have played a MOBA, it is obvious how this makes the game literally unplayable. Every time I try and scroll, the game loses focus. Every time I get a bit excited, and over-react with the mouse, it leaves the screen and I click, bringing the game out of focus. This results in near instant death because every fraction of a second matters in a MOBA, even at the low level of play I am capable of.

Finally, the most positive game on my list is Wargame: Red Dragon. Wargame is unique because it actually does not use Valve's cloud or authentication service, and actually functions properly on Linux because of it. My profile is stored on Eugen's servers, and I never have to worry about losing my data between sessions. The major issue with Wargame is it's performance. The game crashes on Linux far more than it does on Windows, and, it has rendering issues with shadows. The final nail in the coffin is the framerate. Red Dragon is a demanding game, but I should never be getting sub 30fps on a GTX 980 with it. The game runs above 60 at all times on Windows, and rarely above 60 on Linux. Almost every game performs worse on Linux than on Windows, but Wargame is one of the worst performing Linux games I own.

On the whole, the rest of the industry does not seem to be as gung-ho about Linux gaming as Valve was back in 2013. Gaming on Linux is still an incomplete experience where the user makes many compromises for choosing Linux over Windows. The only benefits are ideological. Maybe Steam OS will change things, but for the time being, the industry treats Linux gamers as second-class citizens, and until more people adopt Linux or Steam OS, they will always be treated as such.